BYU Economics Magazine 2020

BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY

ECONOMICS DEPARTMENT MAGAZINE

IN THE WORKPLACE: 02 DIVERSITY RESEARCH AND PRACTICE

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ISSUE 9

VAL LAMBSON: SERVING HIS STUDENTS

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2020

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NETWORKING IN THE BAY: ECONOMICS STUDENTS TREK TO SAN FRANCISCO

TRIVIA Test Your Econ Trivia Knowledge

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What is the theory that claims that the nominal exchange rate should be such that the real exchange rate is equal to one?

05 What is the lowest wage at which a person can be induced to work called?

08 In what year did the

United States go off the gold standard?

theorem guarantees that large samples from a population have sample averages that follow a normal distribution (or “bell curve�)?

the 1973 oil crisis when they proclaimed an oil embargo on nations around the world?

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What is it called when a few firms control a large majority of their market shares?

04 What theorem states

that, if all classical assumptions are met, the ordinary least squares estimator has the lowest sampling variance of all possible linear estimators?

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What is a reduction in the amount of inflation called?

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Which federal reserve bank is responsible for executing monetary policy?

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What describes the additional satisfaction a consumer gains from consuming more of a good or service?

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What measures the loss of economic efficiency in a society when a tax is imposed?

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Who was responsible for forming the US National Bank as the first Secretary of the Treasury?

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What is the box diagram used to represent various distributions of resources?

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What is it called when someone can produce a product or service at a lower cost than others?

06 In statistics, what 02 What group caused

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Which government act is responsible for discouraging anticompetitive behavior in US markets?

01 Purchasing Power Parity 02 The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) 03 Oligopoly 04 Gauss-Markov Theorem 05 Reservation Wage 06 The Central Limit Theorem 07 The Sherman Act 08 1933 09 The Federal Reserve Bank of New York 10 Marginal Utility 11 Alexander Hamilton 12 Disinflation 13 Deadweight Loss 14 Edgeworth Box 15 Comparative Advantage

ECONOMICS BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT MAGAZINE ISSUE #9 2020

FROM THE CHAIR

FEATURES

Mark Showalter “SPANISH INFLUENZA EPIDEMIC— SCHOOL CLOSED—HALT!!” That was the headline in the BYU student newspaper on October 16, 1918. Classes were cancelled, and students and faculty sent home. Classes resumed in winter semester, but with masks and significant restrictions on gatherings. Obituaries of faculty and students who succumbed to the flu appeared weekly in the newspaper through the next summer.

Fortunately, this current pandemic has not been quite as disruptive or as deadly. Classes have continued online, “social distancing” and masks are the norm, and fall semester 2020 will have students back on campus. However, we did miss April graduation and the opportunity to celebrate with the family and friends of our great students. We wish them the best and hope that at least some of them will take the opportunity to participate in a future graduation celebration on campus.

This year’s magazine is due largely to the efforts of Makayla Beitler, who doubles as the editor of the magazine and the department internship and alumni coordinator. Special thanks to her and best wishes as she moves on to start law school. We welcome Jenna Palacios who takes her place. We appreciate the work of all the staff and faculty who worked to put this magazine together.

We note with sadness the retirement of Val Lambson. He will be greatly missed, but we wish him and his family the best. We also welcome the addition of Ryan Hill as a new assistant professor in the department. Ryan recently completed his PhD at MIT and will do a one-year post-doc at Northwestern University. We look forward to him joining us on campus in summer 2021.

We hope you enjoy the magazine and that you have a safe and productive year!

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2 Diversity in the Workplace: Research and Practice

Val Lambson: Serving His Students

Dr. Olga Stoddard’s research seeks ways to help companies create more diverse workplaces.

Her work shows that increasing diversity in the application process can be simpler than imagined.

Dr. Lambson’s career shows a legacy of dedication to being the ideal scholar. His work includes research, teaching, mentoring, and serving his students.

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Economics Shaped My Life

Networking in the Bay: Trek to San Francisco

Our 2020 economics graduates take a moment to reflect on their time in the Economics Department and on how this major has shaped their lives.

The Economics Department took students on its first ever Networking Trek, where the students got an inside view of the career opportunities in San Francisco.

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE 14 16 18 28

FACULTY SCHOLARSHIP HAIKU: WRITING AS A SPIRITUAL PRACTICE ALUMNI SPOTLIGHTS CLASS STATS

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STUDENT SPOTLIGHTS A JULY IN CAMBRIDGE IN THE NEWS

Department Chair Mark Showalter // Writer Makayla Beitler // Student Writer Kenton Young // Faculty Writers James Cardon, Joseph McMurray, Arden Pope, Steven Waters // Editors Makayla Beitler, Jessica McDowell, Jenna Palacios, Mark Showalter Assistant Editors Kaedran Anderson, Aimee Wallace // Design Emily Bryson, Tenley Childs, Jadzia Holland, Bram Linkowski

DIVERSITY IN THE WORKPLACE Research & Practice

by Makayla Beitler

WE LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE inclusion and diversity have become increasingly important, but companies still struggle to know how to make those goals of equality a reality in the workplace. Fortune 500 companies often wonder how they can have an increasingly diverse workforce if they aren’t even able to attract minority groups to apply. Dr. Olga Stoddard’s research has explored potential solutions to this problem—and the answer is simpler than companies may realize.

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Joining the Group In 2015, Dr. Stoddard joined a working group called Bias Interrupters that brought together behavioral economists and social psychologists from across the world with the hope that “the researchers would try to bridge the gap between the research on biases in the workplace and the practices in the workplace.”

Dr. Stoddard and her coauthors Jeffrey A. Flory, Andreas Leibbrandt, and Christina Rott were first introduced to this problem in the hiring process when a chief diversity officer (CDO) from a large financial firm came to Bias Interrupters, wanting to know how to increase diversity in the applicant pool for an entry-level position at the firm.

Jumping on the opportunity to explore inclusion and diversity in the hiring process, Stoddard and her coauthors developed a pilot experiment over the next year.

Specifically, Stoddard and her team “wanted to test empirically, rigorously, in a randomized way, whether there is any impact of communicating a firm’s value of diversity explicitly to potential applicants.” They created interventions in the form of informational messages that the firm would provide to potential applicants on how they valued diversity. Applicants received one of a random selection of recruiting messages ranging from an explicitly diverse message to a very neutral message that had nothing to do with diversity.

Building Relationships and Research

talk” claims that lacked supporting evidence of diversity values. And when they finally ran the experiment, the results they found proved enlightening.

Understanding the Impact Stoddard and her coauthors found that those minority applicants who saw an explicitly stated diversity message were three times more likely to express interest and two times more likely to apply than those who saw a neutral message. This is a staggering change in application rates for the minimal effort required to change recruiting message details.

When it came to variance in the messages used, Stoddard gained further interesting insight. The results showed that less explicit diversity statements didn’t attract more minority applicants. Moreover, cheap talk diversity statements were just as effective at attracting more minority applicants as were the diversity statements that included facts about the company’s inclusion efforts—factual evidence didn’t seem to matter.

But Stoddard was most surprised by the results they gathered on women. They found that “for women, there doesn’t seem to be a strong positive impact on communicating explicit values of diversity.” Stoddard speculates that this could be caused by an inadequate sample size of women or because “the word diversity seems to resonate more along racial dimensions than gender.”

Nonetheless, these initial results show companies how simple, low-cost interventions in the recruitment process can significantly affect diversity at the hiring level.

Stoddard says, “Often, it’s a really lofty goal to increase diversity and inclusion, and companies get overwhelmed by the resources they think need to be spent and the necessary steps they need to undertake. What this particular research suggests is that oftentimes, even something as simple as communicating that you value diversity can have a really strong effect. Potential job applicants respond well to these kinds of explicit messages from firms.”

Stoddard explains that at this time in inclusion and diversity research, “There were very few studies that were done in the field with actual job applicants, actual firms where these inequities are so persistent, so salient.

It was exciting to work on real issues facing a real firm and to do research in a natural setting where participants didn’t know they were participating in research, so they behaved naturally.”

The lack of field studies is largely due to the challenges that accompany them—compromising on research objectives in order to satisfy all involved parties and building Moving Forward relationships that will encourage lasting cooperation between the researchers and the This experiment has opened many doors for further research. While this study looks at company. application rates impacted by diversity reIn its development, the experiment became more nuanced than just understand- cruiting messages, it doesn’t show if those ing whether or not including a diversity hired still feel like the diversity messages statement in recruiting information would they received when applying are true two effectively create a more diverse applicant years down the road. It doesn’t show if empool. The experiment tested how explicit the ployees from minority groups feel like they statement needed to be and if more subtle belong after working there. Stoddard’s fumethods—like expressing an interest in a di- ture research intends to answer these more versity of majors—could be just as effective. probing questions.

At the end of this initial experiment, coThey even tested to see if factual information would be more effective than just “cheap authors Flory and Leibbrandt founded an

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organization called Science of Diversity and Inclusion Initiative (SODI), with Stoddard as the research director. The nonprofit partners with the University of Chicago, the Berkeley Haas School of Business, and big companies like Blackrock, GE, and Google. SODI is still one of the only groups doing field experiments on inclusion and diversity, but the relationships it has built with companies seem promising.

Currently, SODI has five ongoing field experiments and several more in design.

Stoddard shares, “We’re venturing beyond just testing means to increasing diversity and inclusion in hiring and moving into promotions and retention of employees . . . We’re

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trying to see what kinds of interventions can help improve outcomes in terms of retention, of feelings of inclusion and belonging in the organization. Because diversity and inclusion really go hand in hand. You can’t have one without the other.”

This continued research will serve to strengthen diversity and inclusion in the workplace and to propel the purpose of that original working group: “to bridge the gap between research and practice.” And it all began with the initial study on the hiring process, a study which has not only shown that diversity efforts can be simple and effective, but which has also opened doors for greater research and collaboration in the workforce.

VAL LAMBSON Serving His Students

by Makayla Beitler

WHEN YOU MENTION Professor Val Lambson to those who know him, you hear overwhelming appreciation and admiration for his influence as a teacher and a researcher. Dr. Lambson says that one of the best parts of teaching has been the testimonials of returning students, and it is clear from listening to those testimonials why such feedback would make it all worthwhile to him.

History Professor Lambson first became interested in economics as an undergraduate because he wanted to save the world and he felt that economics was a critical foundation for that purpose. While his early studies convinced him that “the world doesn’t want to be saved,” he continued with economics because he knew it would teach him how to think rigorously, and he is convinced of the value of that.

Dr. Lambson received his B.A. in economics from Brigham Young University (BYU) in 1979, and he went on to receive his PhD in economics from the University of Rochester (UR). After working for a year as an assistant professor at UR and then working another five years as an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Dr. Lambson ultimately returned to BYU to teach. Provo has now been his home for thirty-one years.

Besides researching and teaching, Dr. Lambson has refereed for a broad range of journals, varying from the American Economic Review to Econometrica to the Journal of Economic Theory. He has also reviewed for a variety of publishing companies, including Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, MIT Press, and Oxford University Press.

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Theory

“Working with Val showed me what good research is about: a combination of theory and practice and the constant interaction between the two.”

Adeline Gschwandtner

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Dr. Lambson says that the best part of his job has been the opportunity to discuss really interesting things with really smart people, so every day is a study in rigorous thinking.

And his scholarship and emphasis on theory certainly reflects that. He has contributed to the field of game theory and industrial organization through thirty-two refereed publications, two book chapters, and one book review. But his legacy of scholarship is more than just a stack of published research, for his research collaboration has influenced the work that his previous students and coauthors continue to produce.

Adelina Gschwandtner, economics professor at the University of Vienna and coauthor of Dr. Lambson, explains, “Working with Val showed me what good research is about: a combination of theory and practice and the constant interaction between the two. Val showed me that every empirical analysis needs to have a strong theoretical foundation. This is something that every good academic knows. But he also showed me that good theory needs to be confirmed empirically, and if this is not happening, then the theory needs to be reformulated. This is something that less good academics often ignore.”

John van den Berghe, one of Dr. Lambson’s students and a current PhD candidate at the University of Chicago, shares that in his work with Dr. Lambson he learned “a lot about how to approach applied theory research. One of the most valuable things I learned was that my models need to have ‘a point’ . . . a beautiful model couldn’t be all there is in a paper; there needs to be some interesting result or key finding coming from

the model.” That lesson proved very successful for their research, as van den Berghe became a coauthor on Dr. Lambson’s paper, “Skill, Complexity, and Strategic Interaction,” which was published in the Journal of Economics Theory.

Previous student of Dr. Lambson’s and current PhD candidate at Northwestern University Michael Gmeiner shares, “Working with Val Lambson helped me understand the value of theory in the scientific method. Val always talked about how data and theory were both needed to understand the world and stressed that theory was critical to interpreting empirical results.” This emphasis on theory helped shape Gmeiner’s education as he concludes, “In graduate school I always wrote mathematical models to explain the empirical work I was doing, even if the model did not end up in the final version of my papers.”

Dr. Lambson’s research requires extensive theory and impressive scholarship, but it has also been a lot of fun for those he has worked with. Grant McQueen, one of Dr. Lambson’s coauthors and the current director of BYU’s MBA program, details his experience in writing three papers with Dr. Lambson over the span of nearly a decade: “My research meetings with Val consisted of three parts. First, he shared a Libertarian joke, and we debated some issue or discussed some historical footnote; second, I explained an interesting finance puzzle using words; and third, Val took my story and turned it into a series of precise equations with testable implications.

There you have it: a three step recipe for a good publication and a great time.”

Students

Mentor

Dr. Lambson says that he has stayed in economics for the way of thinking, but many students would argue that his choice to become a professor has allowed him to fulfill his original goal of saving the world, one student at a time. His research has focused mainly on game theory and industrial organization. While he has enjoyed teaching about his research emphases, particularly in the rigor of graduate-level courses, Dr. Lambson truly loves to teach everything. The highlight of teaching for him has been watching the lightbulb go on for students, when things finally click.

Undoubtedly, Dr. Lambson’s career showcases a legacy of challenging and improving his students. Many of his students have attributed their educational success in part to his influence. Gmeiner shares that “Val was also like a sage to all the students. He is extremely intelligent and taught skills that foreshadowed graduate school economics classes. Val taught his classes in a way that allowed people to gain immense knowledge from him if they were willing to work.”

Without hesitation, Dr. Lambson will tell you that he returned to BYU and chose to stay because of its students. He believes BYU students are some of the best students you’ll find in the world. Those who come here deserve the best education possible, and he wants to do his small part in contributing to that education. His belief in his students is arguably why his students have come to love him as much as he loves them.

In reflecting on Dr. Lambson’s position as both teacher and scholar, the one definitive word that epitomizes his career becomes clear: mentor. Gschwandtner clarifies just how important Dr. Lambson has been to her, as she states, “Working with Val really made a difference for me and for my career.

Without Val I would most probably not work in academia anymore. We have written three important papers together that have been pivotal for my career and have made a contribution to the profession.”

Van den Berghe seconds that sentiment, adding that Val is “always very openminded and friendly to talk to. . . . I am deeply indebted to Val who helped me get into a good graduate school and whose work with me—just very recently—helped me get a tenure track position after graduate school.”

Dr. Lambson’s impact on the field of economics and on his students is far-reaching and life-shaping. We will miss him in the Economics Department as he transitions into retirement, for Gschwandtner says it best: Dr. Lambson “taught me that the most important thing in life is to be happy and to make other people happy. I consider myself very lucky to have met and have worked with Val Lambson. Working with him was like having Christmas every day!”

“The highlight of teaching is watching the lightbulb go on for students.”

Dr. Lambson

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ECONOMICS SHAPED MY LIFE

by Makayla Beitler

BYU STUDENTS declare economics as their major for a variety of reasons, with different motivations and aspirations pushing them through the rigorous program. They go on to a variety of different fields, allowing economics to shape their paths in unique ways. But the commonality between BYU Econ students is the impact the major has had in shaping their lives, their thinking, and their choices. This year’s graduating class was eager to write in about just how much the economics program has changed them.

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SEAN KEMSLEY

Photo courtesy of BYU Photo

SUMMER HOPPER I hate making decisions, and I always have. It was hard as a child and even harder as a teenager.

Dr. Pope’s definition of economics is my favorite, but a shorter one that I also love is “Economics is the study of decision-making and scarcity.” At first it was funny to me, but at the end of my undergraduate degree I’m pretty amazed by how much economics actually helps me to make decisions. I don’t get hung up on the costs anymore—I just weigh them against the benefits and make a choice based on my own preferences.

JAMES GRIFFIN Economics has shaped the way I see the world, the way I interact with people, the way I govern my own life. The dismal science has at times indeed proven to be dismal, but it has also proven to be deep, powerful, and insightful to so many areas of life and fields of study. I do not think I will ever forget the day I heard Dr. Kearl’s last Econ 110 lecture and decided right there to study economics.

I will always be thankful to the Economics Department for the world class education it provided me and the influence it had on my life.

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HUNTER MATTHEWS Econ 110 was the hardest class that I’ve ever taken, enough that I retook it to no avail, resulting in a B- both times, the lowest grade I’ve ever earned in my life. As a result, I then began to consider other degrees. Yet, as ironic as it is, I couldn’t be more thankful that I chose to major in economics as I’ve learned so much academically and wouldn’t have met my wife otherwise.

Studying economics has changed the way I think about everything around me. I’ve always been interested in business and psychology, and studying economics allowed me to combine these different areas into one area of study. Growing up, I constantly sought to increase efficiency in every part of my life, whether it be school, work, etc. and although the curriculum was tough, economics allowed me to further this mindset. I loved being able to take classes that combined my thinking style and personal interests, namely Game Theory, Industrial Organization, and Economics and Law. Lastly, while my next goal is to graduate from a JD/MBA program, no other major could have prepared me more for my future than economics did, for which I will forever be grateful.

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I can’t quite exactly remember when it started, but I do remember some of the symptoms. They were small and inconspicuous at first—occasional references to indifference curves, use of the phrase “strictly prefer,” and overuse of the word “preferences”—but they grew with time.

Just as a vine transitions from being something covering the surface of a tree to becoming an integral part of it as the two grow together, similarly did economics change from being a thing I did in my classes to part of who I was at heart.

Time allocation became optimization under a budget constraint, scouring the internet for my textbooks became an exercise in optimal search theory, choosing what to study given my knowledge of the professor’s preferences became an intense game theory problem, and dating was a combination of them all.

I came to love not only the fellowship with like-minded students and professors, but I came to treasure the power of these ideas that lent insight into the news, my daily life, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Economics is beautiful, soul and mind stretching, and most importantly, a really good time. Final note: Be sure you know your audience before you ask during a job interview what the mean and variance of the distribution of hours worked per week is. I think some people find that weird.

STEVEN SCHONE It is hard to put a finger on how exactly studying economics has changed my life because its impact has been so pervasive, affecting the ways in which I act, think, and feel. While economics is an academic discipline, it is much more than that. The study of economics has become a new way of life for me. As I initially came to learn what constitutes rational decision making, I did my best to exemplify the characteristics of the archetypal “Homo Economicus.” Dr. Price’s behavioral economics class played a profound role in my life by teaching me how to identify and correct my inherent cognitive biases. Nevertheless, as I came to learn more about economics, I came to see some previously overlooked everyday irrational decisions as miraculous. Against the backdrop of

rationality, I came to increasingly appreciate and aspire to acquire the irrational traits that make humanity wonderful: altruism, kindness, respect, and love of community. I am most grateful and forever in debt to all the professors and fellow students that made my experience in the BYU Economics Department fabulous and transformative.

BRENDON HYMAS Economics 110 is a controversial topic for most BYU students. I agree. The major kicked my butt!

How often? Every semester!

However, that’s the most valuable thing I learned from economics: how to persevere through something challenging. It’s impacted my life by showing me that you don’t have to be the brightest kid on the block in order to make a difference. Economics searches for truth in human behavior when we have limited resources like time and money. The way we choose how to manage our own resources such as time, friends, service, partying, spiritual study, and money determines what we value. Actions of one body affect another, and the way we allocate our own resources will determine the negative or positive impact we have on others. I like economics because it also strives to find the most efficient way to resolve the world’s problems. How will you use the limited resources that you have been given to make a positive impact in the world?

LARA ABRAMSON I may be a little biased (I met my husband in ECON 388), but majoring in economics has definitely changed my life for the better.

Economics has helped me see the world as it really is, rather than how the media or the uninformed masses may try to portray it. In the context of our current crisis of COVID-19, economics has made it clearer how the economy will recover and that it isn’t the end of the world as we know it.

I’ve also been blessed by having so many economics professors take a sincere interest in my life, checking in on me when my health has been bad, and talking with me about future plans simply because they cared. This major truly is a community, and without it, I’m not sure I would even be graduating this semester, with how bad my health has been the past year.

LISA TURLEY SMITH

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“ KARIS RALPHS

I grew up in a family that valued facts. My dad’s background is in physics, and my mom’s background is in math, so everything was very proof-based. While I enjoyed math and science, what I was really interested in was society and people. I guess I had always imagined myself studying something in the humanities. But after an exchange year in Ghana and a mission in Mexico, I became convinced of two things: there were a lot of people who needed help and a lot of people with good intentions were trying to help but were not. I wanted to study something that would be useful to them.

Despite two of my brothers having gotten PhDs in economics, I didn’t actually know what it was before or its usefulness. As a freshman at BYU, I began taking classes as an international relations major. I took Econ 110 from Dr. Pope and fell in love. Here was an area of study that combined my passion for people and decision-making with mathematical models and proofs. Dr. Emily Leslie and Dr. Olga Stoddard introduced me to work done

by Esther Duflo at J-PAL that focused on a data-centered approach to helping disadvantaged populations. It was so exciting to me. I majored in economics because I wanted to be able to look at issues more critically and support my ideas with data. Studying economics has given me the means to help people with more than just good intentions.

KARIS RALPHS Economics changes the way you think about the world. It opens your mind to more than just the consumer’s side of the story for how the economy works!

Economics changed my life as a result of this different view. I now think more critically, consider multiple viewpoints, and I am more educated with my opinions and decisions than I would’ve been previously. I have found I am more open to different viewpoints, and I don’t complain about things I don’t understand.

I’ve always wanted to help those who are less fortunate and make a difference in the world; economics gave me a broader view of the possibilities and pitfalls I would encounter. The whole world could benefit from understanding the “other side of the story.”

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My education in economics has uniquely enabled me to grapple with the complexities of this pandemic. Economics starts with the assumption that people are rational; from that we quickly conclude that often people serve others for their own self-interest in a well-functioning society. But even in times like these, when the markets temporarily fail, and people act irrationally by hoarding dozens of eggs they may never use, economics still helps me understand some of our irrational human behavior. In time, companies with a profit-motive working cooperatively with nations united in this fight will achieve unprecedented results. This philosophy gives me hope for my life ahead and encourages me to pursue my education.

My wife, Maddie Hyland Blood, B.S. Experience Design 2020, and I are grateful for this BYU education that allows us to graduate debt-free in this precarious job-seeking environment.

Economics teaches me that we now have the freedom to make choices that so many college graduates do not have when saddled with student loans. My degree was instrumental in securing me a slot in the BYU Law Class of 2023. I will always be grateful for the BYU Economics faculty and staff for giving me this head start into my career.

MATTHIAS PEREZ I came to BYU with the idea that I wanted to be an attorney and help influence immigration law. One thing I knew for sure was that I did not want to deal with numbers or math in anything I studied. That quickly changed after taking Econ 110 with Professor Kearl. I saw that the creation of public policy is based off studies that deal with data and numbers. After my light bulb moment in the introductory econ class, I switched my major and began taking all the pre-calculus courses that were offered at BYU. I did not do well in those classes and doubted my ability to succeed as an economics major, knowing that it was quant heavy. I told myself that I was going to work as hard as I could and let the chips fall where they may. At the beginning, I struggled to grasp some of the early statistics courses but soon found that my hard work had paid off.

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I became comfortable with statistics and enjoyed it so much that I added a statistics minor and emphasized my econ major around econometrics courses that primarily deal with causal inference from non-random samples of data. Economics has challenged me and pushed me to learn more about what I can achieve academically and professionally. The professors have been phenomenal, and the student body has been competitive.

In hindsight, I’m grateful I stumbled upon the economics major through the introductory course.

KELLEY PHAN Because of economics, I now feel guilty knowing that I am to blame for when my decisions make me better off and someone else worse off. In light of COVID-19, I’ll illustrate my reasoning with a recent trip to the local grocery store. A couple of weeks back, I had walked past the aisle of household cleaning products, and in the corner of my eyes, I had seen a pack of toilet paper sitting by itself on the top shelf.

Considering that I had an unopen pack of 48 rolls at home, I had known that I would gain utility from winning the game called “Who can buy the last roll of toilet paper?” With the potential payoff in mind, I had turned my cart around and pushed it down the aisle with the intent to purchase the last pack. But as expected, guilt had followed me to inform that my purchasing of that last pack would have someone desperate go without it. I then pushed my cart slowly hesitating to reach for that lonely pack of generic brand toilet paper, but then the mental voices of my econ professors justified the situation. They had whispered, “You are a self-interested individual.” I quickly grabbed the pack, placed it in my cart, and pushed it to the next aisle in search of Purell hand sanitizer to resell for a higher price online, but it was out of stock.

father chastised him for having not worked more on the problem, since he had been struggling with this same type of question the week before. His father said, “When you walk down the street, when you’re in the shower, when you don’t have to be thinking about anything else, isn’t this what you think about?” President Eyring confessed that it was not, and his father tenderly said, “Hal, I think you’d better get out of physics. You ought to find something that you love so much that when you don’t have to think about anything, that’s what you think about.”

Economics has become what I think about when there’s nothing else to think about. Its theories and applications have allowed me to think in perspectives I would never have known even existed and opens my mind to further realms of possibility. Graduating with a degree in economics is the opportunity to make the most of every other opportunity that follows.

REBEKAH JENSEN When I first declared my major as economics after four semesters of being undeclared, I thought that I was going to learn all about how the economy works. After reaching the end of the program, I know little more about the economy than I did when I started, other than being able to mathematically prove how supply equals demand. So now, I like to tell people that econ at BYU is a combination of applied statistics and calculus with Greek letters.

I didn’t care much for the Greek calculus part (sorry Dr. Platt), but the statistics was a different story. It all started in 378 when I started getting excited about hypothesis testing and p-values. Then, in 388 when I learned that “homoskedasticity” is an

actual word and not something Dr. Waters made up. And then finally in 488 when Dr. Lefgren showed that there are ways you can actually use regression to find a causal effect. Even in 588, where 90% of the class was over my head (confidence level [.75, 1.05] due to low degrees of freedom), I got excited when Dr. Frandsen started talking about Quantile Regression and estimating effect sizes for different quantiles of the population. I hope that it’s not shameful that the takeaway from my econ degree was that I love statistics, but there are fewer things that get me more excited than having a conversation about how correlation is not causation.

In all sincerity though, I have absolutely loved my time in BYU’s economics program.

Every one of my professors has been extremely passionate about both their area of study and the students they teach. Countless professors have helped me to succeed in countless ways, and I am extremely grateful for that.

So despite the fact that the econ program was nothing like what I expected, I really appreciate what it did turn out to be, and I am so happy that I got to be a part of it.

SEAN HILL Economics revolves around us every day, every hour, and every second. The choices we make present opportunity costs. As an econ major, I have developed a sixth sense to make the best decisions in the nick of time.

Balancing my time and energy like the demand and supply curves to pinpoint the equilibrium point has been a key to my success. Despite the economy taking a hit from coronavirus, I have faith to ride out the market because in the long-term, my patience will pay dividends.

JARED CUESSY In the article, “Elder Henry B. Eyring: Molded by ‘Defining Influences,’” Gerald N. Lund recounts the following story. When President Henry B. Eyring was struggling with a mathematical problem while studying physics at the University of Utah, he asked his father for help. His

ECONOMICS MAGAZINE

Photo courtesy of BYU Photo

JOHNNY BLOOD

“ECONOMICS REVOLVES AROUND US EVERY DAY, EVERY HOUR, AND EVERY SECOND.” SEAN HILL

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FACULTY SCHOLARSHIP 14

Air Pollution and Risk of Mortality C. Arden Pope THERE IS SUBSTANTIAL EVIDENCE from survival studies of cohorts of individuals that long-term exposure to air pollution contributes to risk of cardiopulmonary and lung cancer mortality. One concern regarding several of the key studies was that they are “Secret Science” because they use private and confidential health and personal data that cannot be shared broadly. Therefore, there have been growing appeals for studies that use publicly available data.

In collaboration with colleagues from the Center for Air, Climate, and Energy Solutions (CACES), C. Arden Pope along with several BYU research assistants studied air pollution and mortality risk using a large cohort that is based on public data and that is representative of the US adult population. Specifically, they used National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data from 1986 to 2014 linked with air pollution exposure estimates modeled by CACES colleagues and linked with mortality data through 2015 to create a cohort of 1,599,329 US adults and a sub-cohort with more detail information of 635,539 adults.

Pollution-mortality hazard ratios for allcause and specific causes of death controlling for individual risk factors and regional and

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Jacob Lefler

urban versus rural differences were estimated using various statistical models. These models included Cox Proportional Hazards regression models (CPH); complex CPH models that accounted for NHIS’s complex, stratified, multistage sample design; various models that allowed for multi-pollutants and for alternative spatial and temporal decompositions of pollution; and CPH models with inverse probability weighting methods.

Elevated mortality risks were most robustly associated with fine particulate matter air pollution (PM2.5). Estimated PM2.5-mortality hazard ratios (per 10 g/m3 long-term exposure to PM2.5) for all-cause, cardiopulmonary, and lung cancer mortality were 1.12 (95% CI=1.08–1.15), 1.25 (1.18–1.32), and 1.12 (1.00–1.26), respectively—results comparable to other key studies. Similar results were observed using the various statistical models. Adverse PM2.5-mortality associations were observed across sub-populations defined by sex, age, race-ethnicity, income, education levels, and geographic regions—further highlighting the far-reaching public health impact of breathing polluted air. AP

Joshua Higbee Pope, C. Arden III, Jacob Lefler, Majid Ezzati, Joshua Higbee, Julian Marshall, Sun-Young Kim, Matthew Bechle, Kurtis Gilliat, Spencer Vernon, Allen Robinson, and Richard Burnett. “Mortality Risk and Fine Particulate Air Pollution in a Large, Representative Cohort of US Adults.”

Environmental Health Perspectives 127 (2019).

Lefler, Jacob, Joshua Higbee, Richard Burnett, Majid Ezzati, Nathan Coleman, Dalton Mann, Julian Marshall, Matthew Bechle, Yuzhou Wang, Allen Robinson, and C. Arden Pope III. “Air Pollution and Mortality in a Large, Representative US Cohort: Multiple-pollutant Analyses, and Spatial and Temporal Decompositions.” Environmental Health 18 (2019).

Higbee, Joshua, Jacob Lefler, Richard Burnett, Majid Ezzati, Julian Marshall, Sun-Young Kim, Matthew Bechle, Allen Robinson, and C. Arden Pope III. “Estimating Long-term Pollution Exposure Effects through Inverse Probability Weighting Methods with Cox Proportional Hazards Models.”

Environmental Epidemiology 4 (2020).

Estimating the Effect of Focused Donor Registration Efforts on the Number of Organ Donors James Cardon WAITING TIMES FOR ORGANS in the United States are long and vary widely across regions of the United States. As of July of 2019 there were 113,312 candidates for an organ transplantation on waiting lists in the United States. Nearly eighty–four percent of those candidates are waiting for a kidney. As of 2017, only forty–seven percent of kidney transplant candidates first listed in 2007 had received a transplant. Similarly, the percentage of candidates receiving a kidney transplant within five years varies widely across regions, ranging from 10.2–80.3 percent. The median waiting time for hearts in 2016–2017 was 7.9 months.

Donor registration can increase the number of potential donors, but its effect on the

Mark Showalter

actual number of organ transplants depends upon several factors. First among these factors is that deceased organ donation requires both that death occur in a way that allows donation and that either potential donors or their surviving family grant consent for organ donation. Our recent work decomposes the probability of donation as the product of the probability of eligible death and the probability of consent conditional on eligible death. We also condition on donor registration status. We estimate eligible death rates and conditional consent rates by donor registration status for each state and for key demographic groups. We find significant variation in eligible death rates and in consent rates across states and groups. With

Jordan Holbrook this information, we then develop a simple measure of the value of a new donor registration. This combined measure using information on consent rates and probable death rates also varies widely across states and groups, suggesting that registration drives targeting high-value groups and states can significantly increase the overall number of donors. Our estimates can also be used to assess alternative, but complementary, policies such as protocols to improve consent rates for non-registered potential donors. JC Cardon, James, Mark Showalter, and Jordan Holbrook. “Estimating the Effect of Focused Donor Registration Efforts on the Number of Organ Donors.” Working paper (2020).

An Information Model of Political Polarization Joseph McMurray A WELL-KNOWN PATTERN IN POLITICS is polarization. By various statistical measures, for example, Democratic politicians tend to be more liberal than US voters, while Republicans are more conservative. This has long puzzled economists and political scientists: a centrist candidate should be preferred to an extremist, both by moderate voters and by voters at the other extreme, and so should have a competitive advantage.

In fact, statistical evidence suggests they do have a competitive advantage; why would any candidate choose a losing, extremist position when they could win with a more moderate position?

In a recent working paper, Dr. McMurray points out that polarization is puzzling partly because of the underlying paradigm through which elections are traditionally viewed.

Understandably, economists and political scientists tend to see politics as a contest of interests: liberal policies benefit liberal voters, conservative policies benefit conservatives, and democracy promotes overall welfare by favoring large groups over minorities.

Another possibility, however, is that voters have a shared interest in promoting overall welfare but expect different policies to do this most effectively. In that case, the role of democracy may be to distinguish truth from the myriad of opinions, preferring consensus beliefs over minority viewpoints.

An information paradigm helps explain polarization because a candidate who believes that an extreme policy is best for society might also expect voters to figure this out. If they do, she can prevail in an election even over a more centrist opponent. In

practice, extreme candidates do often prevail against more centrist opponents. Centrist policies still give a competitive advantage, but the importance of this advantage gets overwhelmed by the swings in public opinion that candidates have no control over.

From an information perspective, polarization may not be all bad: a ballot with two centrist candidates would limit voters’ ability to steer policy in productive directions. On the other hand, if candidates are overconfident in their policy opinions then they will polarize more than is optimal. The most important task for voters is to base their decisions on as accurate and complete information as possible. JM McMurray, Joseph. “Polarization and Pandering in Common-Interest Elections.” Working paper (2020).

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HAIKU: Writing as a Spiritual Practice

by Dr. Steven Waters

I ENJOY CYCLING in the mountains and valleys of Utah. It is not uncommon for me to stop along the way and take a picture of a country road, a sunset, or a farm fence. A few years ago, I began posting these pictures on my social media along with a haiku that described the picture. Initially the haiku were a novelty, and I did not plan any grand expansion of the exercise. As time went on, however, I found that thinking about a message and finding the sequence of words to communicate the experience felt like meditation.

A Haiku from Cycling Here is an example of a haiku written for a picture I had taken while on a bike ride. The ride was on March 25, 2019, around 6000 W 7200 S in Spanish Fork, Utah.

Skies aren’t always blue The road isn’t always straight But sometimes they are It has always been easier for me to focus on the difficult, the dark clouds, the potholed road. Thinking about this picture brought out something that I realized I needed to do more of in my life, i.e., recognize the things around me that are good when they are good.

Photo courtesy of Steven Waters

Haiku as a Door to Creation Haiku is a poetry form associated with three lines and seventeen syllables—five on the first line, seven on the second line, and five on the third line. The simplicity of the framework has two benefits for me; first, because it is short, it doesn’t feel overwhelming to get started, and second, the seventeen-syllable format rewards minimizing words. For

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someone who finds journaling to be a chore, the brevity of haiku feels simple, like flipping the pillow over to cool down instead of having to build an air conditioner from existing materials.

Nevertheless, I admit that it can be difficult to start writing when the page is blank— what do I write about? How do I begin? How do I know when I’m done? Here again, haiku is helpful. Haiku provides not only a starting point but also a structure that invites one into the mystery of creation. Haiku has taught me that writing is a creative process I can trust. 1 What do I trust? I trust that the seemingly innocuous thoughts that come to mind are inspiration, and I am learning that these thoughts don’t arise if I don’t write.

Haiku, Revelation, and Translation Writing about the world I see on my bike has been an auspicious opening into the creative process. Over time, that creative process found its way into my spiritual life as I started writing haiku associated with scripture, a work of art, or a meditation insight.

An unexpected awareness came one day

WRITING IS CREATING CREATING IS CONCENTRATION CONCENTRATION IS THE CORE OF MEDITATION MEDITATION BRINGS INSPIRATION INSPIRATION IS EXPRESSED IN WORDS WORDS CAN BE WRITTEN DOWN WORDS WRITTEN DOWN LEAD TO ACTION THIS IS INSPIRED ACTION COME AND PARTICIPATE IN CREATION

as I read back over a set of haiku I had written and found that, even without a picture, I was transported back to both the experience and the thoughts that had prompted the poem. Writing facilitated remembering and remembering reinforced revelation. Yes, I believe that the words that come together as you write are your own personal revelation—revelation that arises only when you purposely practice and record what comes.

The following are three haiku that I wrote as I worked with words that jumped out at me from scripture and thoughts from meditation. See if they evoke anything in you.

I get up each day I smile and open the door Small and simple means - 1 Nephi 16:29, Alma 37:6 Actively hoarding Preparing my own sandwich Aren’t we all beggars - Mosiah 4:19 It’s always a choice I choose what to focus on Adjust attention - A morning meditation

Adam Miller writes in his “Letters to a Young Mormon,“ When you read the scriptures, don’t just lay your eyes like stones on the pages.

Roll up your sleeves and translate them again. . . . Word by word, line by line, verse by verse, chapter by chapter, God wants the whole thing translated once more, and this time he wants it translated into your tongue, inflected by your native concerns, and written in your native flesh.2

I didn’t understand that passage from Miller’s book when I read it in 2014. After my experience with haiku, I see that this is what I’ve always needed—to liken the scriptures to my own situation (1 Nephi 19:23). The best way to create (or consume) spiritual writing like haiku is to let the words move slowly through your mind, one at a time.

Don’t rush to write (or read) as many haiku as possible in one sitting. Let the words wash over you—let them rest in you. This washing and this resting will be as refreshing as the cool side of the pillow. Try it for yourself. Flip the pillow over and try your hand at writing a haiku (here’s a prompt: think about the

word “charity” and see where your mind goes). The cool fabric of your writing can be the beginning and the end, the opening and the closing, the initiation and the mystery— indeed, it will be an invitation into the presence of the divine. SW

1. While this article is about writing haiku, the process that is to be trusted is one of creation. It doesn’t have to be haiku; it can be any art form.

For you it might be painting, music, yoga, sculpture, drumming, dance, journaling, drawing, performing, weaving, doodling, photography, etc.

My experience is that if you engage in art with intention, that intention produces thoughts that, when acted upon, open you up to more light.

2. Miller, Adam S. 2014. “Letters to a Young Mormon,” Neal A. Maxwell Institute, Provo, Utah. pp. 32–33.

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ALUMNI SPOTLIGHTS 18

“Good working relationships make you better at your job, and they also make you happy.”

Elise Biancardi

ELISE BIANCARDI didn’t always know she would be a data analyst, let alone an economics major. She confesses, “I went through more majors at BYU than any other student—everything from journalism to philosophy to commercial music. In my brief phase as a pre-business major, I took Econ 110 from Professor Kearl in the JSB, and I was instantly hooked. I felt as though I had found my tribe. Suddenly, I had discovered a whole school of thought, a discipline of people who thought the way I did!”

After graduating, Elise joined Cornerstone Research as an economic analyst. When applying for that first job, she says, “I would often highlight my 388 project or my work as a teaching assistant. Both of these experiences provided great fodder for showcasing key skills like leadership, initiative, and ownership.” Two years later, Google recruited Elise into its Ads Finance team. Over the last four years, she has transitioned from a revenue forecaster to an impact analyst, where she “measures the impact that sales teams have on the advertisers they service” to help leadership make future hiring investments.

But Elise’s work is about more than just data. “It’s important to me to work at a company that is having a net-positive impact on the world, which is one reason I love working at Google. From providing free information to users on Search to developing AI that can detect cancer, Google is improving people’s lives.”

Her career has also allowed her to have a bigger impact on an individual level, as Google “creates a work environment that

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encourages me to donate my time and money to causes I care about.” Elise’s experience with Mexican immigrants during her mission to El Paso, Texas, and her awareness of the “immigrant and refugee heritage in [her] family and within the church” has built her passion for the refugee crisis. She decided she wanted to do something to help after reading about Syria and the crisis in Europe, so she started Project Wheelhouse, a nonprofit that provides free consulting and training services to support other nonprofits at the forefront of the crisis, particularly in Greece.

Whether in her nonprofit or at Google, Elise values her economics degree every day. She shares, “[my degree has] helped me to think critically about complex problems in my work. . . . While I’m not building econometric models anymore, I am still econometrics-adjacent. Google has an incredible team of PhDs in economics, and I get to partner with these guys on some fun projects.”

In advice to future economics students, Elise says, “Be you! I’m serious, here. A lot of people feel the need to put on a professional persona in interviews or at work. . . . I’d much rather be as genuine as I can and build meaningful connections with my colleagues.

It turns out good working relationships make you better at your job, and they also make you happy.” MB

“Take your time, enjoy being a student, and just study what you love.”

Scott Petty

SCOTT PETTY loves helping companies grow. He has spent the last twenty years since cofounding Signal Peak Ventures doing just that—being a part of the great new ideas that “bring jobs and opportunities for other people and solve problems for different sectors of the community.”

Scott became an economics major at BYU because he felt like it was a happy medium between business and intellectually stimulating theory. Economics taught Scott how to think logically and forced him to make rational arguments for problems without a clear right answer. That skillset has been particularly important to him throughout his career.

Scott graduated from BYU in 1987 and spent three years consulting at Bain & Company before earning an MBA at Harvard Business School. He then returned to Bain because he saw value in working “on strategic issues, related to big companies, with a lot of different people and a lot of smart minds.”

After another three years at Bain, Scott’s entrepreneurial interests took over and he joined a food startup called Zuka Juice in 1996. He joined when only one store was open, but within three years, he helped grow the startup into 100 stores in seven states.

One of their early stores was actually on BYU campus, next to the Varsity Theatre in the Wilkinson Student Center.

Scott learned a lot about startups from Zuka Juice. When it was acquired by Jamba Juice, he knew, “I wanted to do something entrepreneurial again, but I also missed consulting.” This led him and some colleagues to launch Signal Peak Ventures in 2000, which

invests in “early-stage technology and software companies both here in Utah and in other underserved markets across the country.”

Scott’s role with Signal Peak Ventures falls into three categories: strategizing with current portfolio companies, looking for new investment opportunities, and raising the firm’s own funds so they can continue to invest in more companies.

Scott is passionate about startups and new businesses, but it’s the people he works with that drive that passion. Entrepreneurs often have a lot of bravado, but they also sacrifice so much to big ideas. As such, it’s important that within his own firm, Scott can “make sure entrepreneurs feel respected and heard,” even when he has difficult conversations with them. At the end of the day, Scott gets to “work with some really incredible entrepreneurs who have incredible drive, incredible persistence, and incredible will.”

Their enthusiasm for what they’re doing and how they’re changing the world makes Scott’s job fun and worthwhile.

Scott encourages future economics students to “take your time, enjoy being a student, and just study what you love. . . . As you graduate and start thinking about careers and jobs, keep your options open to a great extent until you figure out what you’re really passionate about. Just make sure it’s something that you can learn and grow from.” If students have doubts, they can look to Scott’s career as a case study in following passions and continuing to learn as you go. MB

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“Economics and the way that economics trains your thinking . . . is advantageous for all aspects of our lives.”

Suzanne Hyland SUZANNE HYLAND’S passion for “mentoring and helping women find joy and success in their personal, family, and professional pursuits” motivates her work—from running her own business to joining the BYU Life Science Advisory Council.

Suzanne graduated from BYU in 1989 as the youngest graduate of her class and one of only three women in the economics program. She then began her career in financial information systems in healthcare and health insurance. That knowledge translated well when she transitioned to the Institute for Clinical Outcomes Research. While she didn’t have a medical background, “the analysis skills that [she] learned in [her] economics degree is what carried [her] through in both of those employment opportunities.”

Suzanne loved clinical research and “the human impact of [her] work there,” but it wasn’t conducive to her current family life.

In 2000, she left that path and “started [her] own business to have the flexibility to raise a family and to work.” Quilters Touch LLC is a wholesale business that provides products for quilters, and Suzanne has loved working for an industry “dominated by women and women-owned businesses.” With Quilters Touch LLC, Suzanne could “work and contribute to family income while also cherishing the opportunity to nurture and raise three children.”

Suzanne didn’t stop there. In 2016, she completed an executive MBA program at the University of Utah. That same year, she and her husband established a scholarship for women pursuing biological and biomedical sciences in BYU’s College of Life Sciences.

They have since been able to serve on the Life Science Advisory Council—both work on the internship committee, and Suzanne also serves on the women’s committee. In her service there, she has helped to develop both a

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peer consulting program for all students and a platform called “She is a Scientist” to help women navigate the STEM world.

In addition to her business and BYU responsibilities, Suzanne is now the Director of Education and Industry Relations at Quilts Inc., an international events company. In this role, she works with the industry to lift and support all businesses in the quilting industry.

Economics has remained fundamental throughout Suzanne’s career. During her time at BYU, Suzanne was a research assistant for Dr. Del Gardner. Their research keyed into behavioral economics long before it was called such. Those principles, as well as topics like opportunity cost and econometrics, have shaped her business decisions. She explains, “Economics and the way that economics trains your thinking . . . is advantageous for all aspects of our lives.”

Suzanne’s career path has not been straightforward, but every turn has allowed her to do more to serve others. When she was in school “there just was not the structure for a lot of women to succeed, especially if they were mothers.” Today, Suzanne is a part of the changes that continue to help all women succeed. She shares, “My goal is to help women contribute to their families’ economic stability. . . . When women have the opportunity for gainful employment, our families are less vulnerable to the economic impacts of those disruptions.” Her passion-driven career truly has brought opportunities to women in so many venues. MB

“Stick with the program. It is a tough degree, but every other degree after economics seemed like a breeze.”

Brittan Mitchell BRITTAN MITCHELL has loved the path her legal career has taken and the influence that economics has played in it. However, Brittan didn’t come to BYU with grand ambitions for economics or the law. She took Economics 110 from Dr. Arden Pope during her first semester only because she wanted to try something different from her early elementary education major, and that class convinced her to change to economics. Later on, many of Brittan’s BYU professors encouraged her to pursue law school, but Brittan didn’t seriously consider their suggestions until she had graduated and reevaluated her future plans.

Brittan graduated from BYU in 1999 and got a second B.S. in accounting from Florida State University in 2000 before going on to get her JD from Stetson College of Law in 2003. During her time at Stetson, Brittan was a research attorney for the National Clearinghouse for Science, Technology, and the Law. After law school, she opened her own practice at Mitchell & Mitchell, where she specialized in litigation, estate planning, tax planning, and business needs for agricultural families in Florida. During this time, she also got an Executive LLM in taxation from New York University in 2011.

In 2014, Brittan transitioned to Exactech, Inc., where she remains today as the senior manager of Enterprise Risk Management.

Brittan handles many responsibilities within her current role, including the management of the company’s insurance portfolio, all corporate governance documentation, the data privacy initiatives, and business continuity concerns including hurricane and pandemic planning efforts.

Brittan’s legal career has grown in ways she didn’t expect as an undergraduate, but her passion for leadership has always remained consistent. She shares, “Regardless of my role, I have always worked towards

becoming a better leader. I spend time reading books on leadership and working towards incorporating the strategies. These strategies help in my role as a team leader and my role as a mother.”

When reflecting on how economics shaped her legal career, Brittan points to the intellectual stamina she developed at BYU. She shares, Economics is a tough major. You are competing against intelligent students for the top grades. One of the toughest courses for me was Professor Lambson’s course on game theory. Even though the class was incredibly difficult, the class positively impacted my career more than any other course. . . . To this day, twenty years later, I think about getting through those game theory exams, and I know that I can get through anything. . . . I graduated from BYU’s economics program at nineteen. At that age, there were so many things I did not understand about the world, and yet my economics professors challenged me to create models that could impact significant business decisions and public policies.

Brittan urges future economics students, “Stick with the program. It is a tough degree, but every other degree after economics seemed like a breeze.” She also reiterates the importance of building relationships with professors. Reflecting on her choice to attend law school, and her professors’ influence on that decision, Brittan says, “Get to know your professors and listen to their suggestions! Their words of encouragement may help years after you have graduated.” MB

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“Learn in the day-today mindset to put the goals of the team above yourself and your own goals.”

Derek Monson WHEN DEREK MONSON reflects on his career path, the word that comes to mind is “non-traditional.”

Derek became fascinated with the worldview that economics offered after taking Economics 110 with Dr. Kearl. But when the International Relations Department stated that too many classes overlapped for a double major with economics, he changed his plans and decided to double major in economics and political science instead.

Derek’s plans at graduation centered on a PhD in economics, which he planned to pursue once his wife, Melanie, finished her undergraduate degree the following year.

During that time, the Economics Student Association advertised an entry-level policy position at Sutherland Institute. Despite knowing little about policy and no one at the company, Derek interviewed, thinking he would be good at the job. He was right.

The analytical thinking and quantitative reasoning skills he gained in economics have shaped his career from day one.

Derek only intended to stay at Sutherland Institute for a year, but he enjoyed policy work so much, he realized that he wanted to stay longer. Now, thirteen years later, he is the Vice President of Policy at Sutherland.

His days focus on Sutherland’s strategic policy positioning—he is constantly thinking about where the think tank wants to be in a year and how they’ll get there. Derek feels particularly passionate about challenging people, beginning with himself. He loves the challenge of helping people find common ground and using those shared principles to build bridges on controversial issues.

Building bridges is part of the daily work.

But Derek shares that the most exciting

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moments occur when “an idea that I had took hold and won the day, without my name being attached to it.” Being a nonpartisan public policy think tank, neither Sutherland’s nor Derek’s names are often attached to the legislation they help to create. But when policymakers’ decisions on taxpayer dollars or DUI legislation reflect his ideas—that is when he feels the greatest satisfaction.

Derek’s love for policy has led him to stay at Sutherland through four different CEOs. While there is often a lot of turnover when an executive leaves, Derek has “enjoyed being able to see how people bring a unique approach to the same principles and outcomes.”

Derek’s experience has given him valuable insight: “Learn in the day-to-day mindset to put the goals of the team above yourself and your own goals. . . . Good bosses really want employees who are thinking about how to make the organization more successful, not just employees who are trying to get the next pay raise.” He also encourages candid communication, where people focus on the good of the team and work effectively, without reading any personal attack into criticism. If colleagues can both give and receive honest feedback, they achieve so much more individually and as an organization. “You can’t get much better than that for day-to-day professional satisfaction,” Derek concludes.

Derek urges current students to add these skills to the set economics already provides. Doing so will launch successful careers—whether or not they know anyone at their dream company or their plans change along the way. MB

IN THE

Economics Students Trek to San Francisco

by Makayla Beitler

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THE SUN SHINES BRIGHTER (when it makes it through the clouds) in San Francisco, but that isn’t why fourteen of our econ students made a trek to the West Coast last September. No, their decision to explore the Bay Area was motivated by something more important: networking.

In today’s world, the majority of all jobs are found by networking. It has become a critical step for anyone hoping to start a career, grow their career, or simply garner the relationships considered critical in this modern age. BYU Economics students are, as usual, staying ahead of the game in building relationships that can help guide them on their paths to careers.

San Francisco was a perfect place for the Economics Department’s first ever networking trek. The students, along with Economics Department Chair, Mark Showalter, and support staff from BYU Economics and Career Services, spent three days exploring companies that have proven extremely friendly to BYU Economics graduates. And the takeaway has been enormous.

The goal of networking is twofold: build positive relationships and continue to learn in order to move forward professionally. The trip to the Bay Area gave the students the opportunity to embrace that twofold goal in full.

Due to the generosity of many San Francisco alumni, students gained an inside look at some top companies in the Bay Area: Visa, Google, Cornerstone Research, 23andMe, Springboard, and Dodge & Cox. Info sessions and Q&A panels gave the students insight into a breadth of careers ranging from economic consulting to investments to data science. It also allowed the companies to get to know the economics students a little better.

Photo courtesy of McKay Tucker

Taking a Trek to Talk to Tech

But the trek didn’t just get students into the doors of big companies. It also provided a chance for them to meet BYU Economics alumni—to ask their questions and see what life after BYU can really look like. The Economics Department didn’t want to limit that discussion to the office because it wanted students to feel comfortable asking questions about work and everyday life. Luckily, Dave Hedengren—BYU alum and data scientist—met the group for dinner on Thursday night. Students praised his candid honesty in discussing life in San Francisco—both the positives and the negatives. Student Garrett Bergeson said, “I appreciated his honesty about what it’s like to be a member of the Church out in San Francisco.”

Many students enjoyed the conversations that were “career oriented . . . not company oriented.” It was a reminder that networking is about more than just one job interview to

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Photo courtesy of Jessica McDowell

Connecting with Alumni

get inside a company. It’s about making connections that can offer insight into all facets of life. It’s about talking with people not just to find current opportunities, but to bolster friendships.

Connecting with Each Other When the students weren’t networking with companies and alumni, they had the chance to do some sightseeing—eating dinner in Chinatown, driving along the Golden Gate Bridge, and wandering through Fisherman’s Wharf. As they explored highlights of the city, the students connected with each other.

When reflecting on the trek, many students felt grateful for the opportunity to talk with not just alumni, but also with their peers, who share the same present decision-making stresses. It taught them that networking isn’t only about who they meet—it’s about being open to connecting with and learning from the people they already know.

Finding New Insights and New Questions The students left San Francisco with new insights to start their careers: “Apply and apply some more.”

“Get involved in LinkedIn, and keep both LinkedIn and résumés updated.”

“Don’t be afraid to reach out to the people you’ve met. Putting yourselves out there and staying in contact is the best way to form a lasting network.”

Even more importantly, the students walked away with new questions to ponder.

Although a slightly daunting task to engage in, the students appreciated now knowing what to think about, and what other details should weigh on them, besides just industry and salary. Valuable conversations with alumni helped the students realize that knowing the right question to ask is the first step in finding the career they really want.

Their lists after trek included the following questions: “What am I passionate about?”

“Is this job family-oriented?”

“What kind of environment do I want to work in?”

“What is the value of grad school in this field?”

“What roles in a job am I preparing myself to be able to do?”

Photo courtesy of Linda Evans

Takeaways Economics doesn’t have just one clear career path for students at graduation. The degree opens doors for many different opportunities, making it critical for students to consider their future career paths early on and think about what doors they want to walk through after they leave BYU. The good news is that this breadth of opportunity has given students a broad network of alumni who span many fields and locations. It should feel comforting to know that there are many BYU alumni who know what it’s like being a new economics graduate and who are eager to shine a light on what they do. The Department loved its time in San Francisco and is excited for where its network will take students in the future.

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Building Your Network: What That Really Means NETWORKING CAN FEEL UNNERVING if you don’t have much experience or confidence to dive right in. But the truth is, networking is just about building connections within the professional domain. Once you realize that, it should feel much less overwhelming. Here are some helpful tips if you’re not sure where to start.

Engage in informational interviews If you’re a student new to the work world, or perhaps an employee wanting to switch industries, consider an informational interview. Ask someone in your field of interest to talk with you for fifteen minutes about what they do and how they got there.

If you don’t know anyone directly, use LinkedIn to reach out to alumni whose interests align with yours. Most professionals remember what it’s like to be in your shoes and are happy to help. As a caveat, an informational interview is a good way to grow your network and learn more about an intriguing career, but it won’t guarantee you a job.

On the other side, if a student is eager to learn from you, consider sacrificing fifteen minutes in your busy workload. The next Einstein might have just stumbled into your path, but even if they didn’t, at the very least, you can help to positively shape your industry’s next generation.

Have something to offer Remember that networking is just building new friendships, and all meaningful relationships are helpful in some way. The same remains true in the professional world. Come to the table with something to offer—even if all you have as a student or recent graduate is a wealth of enthusiasm and gratitude. If you are sincerely eager about getting to know and support those you interact with, your network will develop naturally.

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Balance the virtual world and reality

Broaden your network

Social media platforms like LinkedIn enhance the breadth of networking opportunities and shouldn’t be overlooked. Check your LinkedIn and stay current, even when you’re not actively seeking a job. Keeping a strong virtual presence matters, and it can often feel easier to reach out to someone over the internet than to reach out and strike up a conversation in person.

But just because it’s easier, it’s not better or enough.

Prioritize the people you interact with regularly and attend events when possible. Personal interactions—at events, at work, or even over the phone—are far more memorable than virtual ones.

LinkedIn is a valuable tool, but it’s only a tool—it’s not the extent of your network. Use LinkedIn to find new connections and to stay connected. But don’t let it be your only way of doing so.

Most importantly, don’t shy away from the real-life networking events that come your way—whether you’re invited to represent your company at a conference or you’re invited to the office party. You don’t have to accept every invitation that enters your inbox, but you should be mindful of the people you want to get to know and attend the events that will allow you to do so.

Be sure that you’re not too field-specific. Just because you’re a financial analyst at a software company doesn’t mean you should connect only with software financial analysts. Try to meet people in a variety of fields. Not only will it help you be more well-rounded and educated across your industry, but it will help you know who to reach out to, should you ever come across an issue outside of your present skill set.

Don’t be afraid to open your own door Networking doesn’t have to happen exclusively at massive, industry-wide events. It can happen right in your own office or classroom as you connect with peers, teammates, and bosses. The more engaged you are with both your work and those involved in your work, the more you stand out as someone worth knowing. It will be easier to form friendships that outlast your class or cubicle, and those friendships can help you find new opportunities in the future.

And if you feel like your current interactions aren’t enough, create your own opportunities.

Host dinner parties or go to lunch with a colleague you don’t often work with. Real impact comes not from overly elaborate plans but from simple opportunities to connect with people beyond surface level.

Learn the art of the follow-up Be sure to follow up after meeting someone. This can be a thankyou note to the employer you just interviewed with (more than a few handwritten thank-you notes have been the deciding factor in interviewed applicants), or it can be a quick email to the analyst who shared his business card at yesterday’s conference. It can even be a LinkedIn message after talking to a colleague at a company dinner. Follow-ups don’t have to be fancy or lengthy but should solidify connections. Be sure to reach out again when you have valuable insights. Networking doesn’t need extensive effort every day, just consistent effort over time.

If you’re not sure where to start, consider saying hello If you still feel overwhelmed, remember that networking can be as simple as saying hello. It can be intimidating to email, call, or walk up to strangers and hope they respond positively. That is hardly unique to professional settings. Still, the easiest way is to fake it till you make it. Walk up and say hello. Most people are just as interested in broadening their network as you are—they just may not know where to start.

Now, you do.

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CLASSSTATS 2020

GRAD SCHOOL

78% plan to attend grad school in the future

18% have been accepted to grad school

GRADUATE PROGRAMS

GRADUATE SCHOOLS

DENTAL ECON PHD LAW MEDICAL MBA MPA MPP MS FINANCE PHD ACCOUNTING PHD BUSINESS REAL ESTATE

• University of Pennsylvania • Brigham Young University • University of Arkansas at Little Rock • University of Utah • University of Notre Dame • The Ohio State University • Stanford University • University of California, Los Angeles • Pennsylvania State University • University of Houston

ADVICE FROM STUDENTS

“Go to office and TA hours.

Talking about material is way better than just personal study.”

“Learn to love the way economics teaches you to think. You’ll never look at the world around you the same way, and that’s a plus.”

“Take advantage of the resources provided by the Economics Department. Participate in the Alumni Mentoring Program or the Economics Student Association.

Look for opportunities to work with professors and learn from them.”

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“Diversify your skill set by taking other useful classes and learning how to do programming, finance, accounting, or something related to your interests.”

“Start networking as soon as possible. Try to have at least two internships before graduating.”

“Focus on learning more than grades, and the grades will take care of themselves.”

“The classes that are worth taking are usually the hard ones.

If you can find ways they apply to your life and get excited about the topic, you will enjoy the class a lot more and do better. Push through the 300s to get to the 400s; it’s worth it!”

“Participate as much as you can.

Meet with professors often!”

“Focus, work hard, and enjoy it!”

CAREERS

Technology

Management Consulting Law

Investment Banking

Insurance

Finance

Healthcare

5

Banking

Academia

10

Education

15

Data Science Research

Business

20

Economic Consulting

JOB INDUSTRIES

0

COMPANIES Amazon Amica Insurance Analysis Group Anglepoint Aptive Environmental Bain & Company BambooHR Bates White LLC Best Buy BlenderBottle B.O.S.S. Retirement BVA Group BYU Camber Dynamics Charles River Associates Cicero Group Citibank Collective Health Cornerstone Research Deloitte

Duff & Phelps ExxonMobil Facet Farmers Insurance Fidelity Investments Fisher Investments FSG Goldman Sachs G3 Solar Hammerton Hawx Services John Deere Larry H. Miller Chevrolet Lucid Software McKinsey & Company Mercer Morgan Stanley MX Technologies Inc. Nielsen Holdings Northwestern Mutual

PACS Inc. Peak Capital Partners PIMCO Qualtrics RCLCO Real Estate Recyclops Rhodium Group SafeStreets Select Portfolio Servicing Summa Terra Ventures Summit Partners Sumsion Business Law Teach for America The Home Depot University Impact Ventures University of Chicago Venture Validator Vivint SmartHome Yale Zions Bank

PLAN TO WORK FULL-TIME AFTER GRADUATION

82%

HAVE A FULL-TIME OFFER

73%

LOCATIONS FOR WORK 4% 6%

21%

56%

HAVE ACCEPTED OFFER

12%

95%

1%

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STUDENT SPOTLIGHTS HANNAH BENDER

HANNAH BENDER wasn’t sold on economics before college.

Her childhood dream was to dance professionally, but that vision shifted during high school.

Hannah knew little about economics, but she knew she wanted to do something that included math and lots of career options, so she declared an economics major. After taking Econ 110 and 380 her first year at BYU, she never doubted her decision.

Hannah shares, “My favorite part about being an econ major was honestly the course material.

I found all of my classes fascinating and the projects we were assigned, although difficult, engaging and relevant.” But Hannah didn’t limit her studies just to the classroom. She worked as a research assistant for Dr. Price,

VICTORIA BEECROFT

IN MANY WAYS, Victoria Beecroft has been working toward the honor of being the 2020 Economics Department Valedictorian for many years, as economics has always been central to her educational goals.

Victoria came to BYU hoping to major in economics, largely because of a wonderful high school economics teacher. While Victoria still explored other majors as a freshman, she quickly settled into economics because she loved the way it shaped her perspective of the world. Victoria enjoyed “the way the program made me think about causality when looking at data. I also appreciated the interactive classroom environments.”

Those classroom environments also shaped her work as a teaching assistant and a research assistant in the Economics Department, where she learned about “the entire academic process” and strengthened her economics skills.

Victoria also incorporated

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Dr. Wikle, and Dr. Stoddard at various points over the years. She also spent summers interning at a nonprofit called Marafiki Afrika, at a startup called Grow, and at Cornerstone Research.

Hannah’s commitment to economics didn’t mean she sacrificed her love of ballet. As a ballet minor, Hannah danced on BYU Theatre Ballet. She reflects, “I am so grateful that I was able to continue dancing ballet all of my years at BYU. With the company, I had many opportunities to perform on and off campus. Theatre Ballet helped me to grow as an athlete and an artist.”

Just as Hannah combined her passions at BYU, she plans to do the same in her career. Hannah currently works as an analyst at Cornerstone, where she hopes to stay for at least four years before pursuing a graduate degree.

Her long-term dream is to “start [her] own consulting group that

focuses on helping small ballet companies.” She explains, “I aim to empower these dance groups so they can continue to offer so much culture and magic to the communities where they reside.”

Hannah’s ambition to pursue her dreams is advice enough. But to future economics students, she adds, “Take advantage of the shorter length of the major to study other topics that interest you. Also, volunteer with the ESA. . . . I spent several years heavily involved in the Women in Econ leadership. I loved the opportunity this afforded me to interact with the women in the major and hopefully help them to feel excited about the coursework and confident in their ability to do well in the major. I’ve made many wonderful friendships with members of the club that I am so grateful for.” MB

economics into groups she joined beyond the classroom. During her early years at BYU, she participated on BYU’s Model United Nations (MUN) team, competing at the national MUN conference each spring. Because MUN “encourages students to work across various disciplines to study and solve negation-related international relations issues,” Victoria was able to apply economics in a new setting.

During her later years at BYU, Victoria joined many Marriott School programs. She became a leader in the Management Consulting Association, emphasizing mentorship for women in business. But of all her positive experiences, Victoria shares, “The relationships I formed throughout my time at BYU will have the most lasting impact on me. I appreciated the students and professors who took time to get to know me, and I feel that they shaped my education.”

Offering her advice to future BYU Economics students, Victoria says, “Don’t shy away from the quant classes early on.”

She also adds that minoring in

math or statistics would have complemented her major as she enters the professional world.

Victoria currently works at McKinsey & Company, a decision she made knowing that consulting would expand her skills and allow her to explore roles in both the public and private sector.

These factors will help Victoria consider either an MBA or a JD after several years of consulting.

Although Victoria didn’t have a graduation ceremony to commemorate her time at BYU, she concludes, “I feel honored to be chosen as the Economics Department Valedictorian and am incredibly grateful to the professors who took so much time to help me understand difficult concepts and pushed me to challenge myself. They were always willing to stop what they were doing to answer questions about economics, my career, and my life choices. I am also grateful for the research and teaching assistant opportunities that the Department provides and have loved being part of the econ community at BYU.” MB

IAN BELLOLI

IAN BELLOLI entered BYU with dreams of accounting, but when he realized that he enjoyed studying the economics material in Dr. Kearl’s Econ 110 class more than tackling his accounting homework, he decided to switch majors. That decision changed Ian’s educational experience at BYU and opened many doors to him along the way.

Ian shares that he loved the “challenging material that the economics major provides. For me personally, I am so glad that I pursued a major that was intellectually rigorous and forced me to struggle and be frustrated on many occasions. . . . Because of the rigor from the program, I feel more confident that I can go out and solve tough problems in this world.”

CLAYSON SHUMWAY CLAYSON SHUMWAY split his time at BYU between the classroom and the track field. While juggling both athletics and coursework challenged him physically and mentally, Clayson is grateful for his BYU education, which taught him “the way we go about discovering how the world works and why it works.”

Clayson originally came to BYU intending to be a chiropractor. Still, he took Econ 110 as a freshman, and after a few more semesters of classes, Clayson realized, “I liked economics just as much as my life science classes, but I was better at it, so I decided to go all in on economics.” Going all in on economics included getting a minor in mathematics and working as a research assistant for Dr. Wilson.

When Clayson wasn’t studying economics, he was running as an athlete for the BYU Cross Country & Track team. He was an All-American in both Outdoor Track and Cross Country in 2018.

Ian also embraced the flexibility that the major offered, both in student opportunities and future career paths. During his time at BYU, he interned at growth equity firm Logan Growth Advisors, private equity firm Sagelink Capital, and software company Weave. Beyond his internships, he played on the BYU Water Polo team and participated in clubs ranging from the Business Strategy Club to the Economics Student Association, where he spent this last year as president.

Ian encourages future students to use the major’s flexibility and brevity to explore their interests. He explains, “I spent almost two dozen credits taking courses that did not contribute to my major or minor. They were classes that helped me understand my interests and helped me find new hobbies and topics that I continued to study even after the classes were finished.”

These experiences helped Ian realize his post-BYU priorities.

Ian currently works for Teach for America as a math teacher at an under-privileged school in Hawaii. He didn’t imagine taking such a path when he first started college, but he now knows that he wants a career that gives him “positions to learn and grow, while still being able to impact others’ lives in a positive way.”

Teach for America does just that.

Ian knows, “The most meaningful experience at BYU really has been the people that I have been able to meet. Many of these connections have helped maintain my sanity through college and made BYU such an incredible experience. Many of the people I have met here in my undergraduate degree will be lifelong friends and will provide help to me throughout my life.” MB

He also remains on BYU’s alltime top 10 board in both the Steeplechase and 10K. Running and economics shaped Clayson’s undergraduate degree. But he shares that BYU changed him the most by expanding his curiosity, exposing him to a variety of different perspectives and helping him to “view the world through someone else’s eyes.” That didn’t happen without some fun though. Clayson’s favorite thing about economics was the professors’ humor. He says, “I don’t have data to back this up, but it seems that my econ professors have had the most jokes attempted per class and funny jokes per jokes attempted.” While admitting, “There are probably a lot of factors I’m ignoring here,” his professors’ jokes definitely made his economics classes much more enjoyable.

Clayson is currently applying to PhD programs and plans to start his graduate program in August 2021. He is attracted to the lifestyle of a professor and the opportunity to pursue research that he finds interesting.

He encourages future

economics students to “be really good at algebra and unafraid of calculus.” As for athletes, he admits that balancing serious scholarship with serious running isn’t easy. He urges, “Be comfortable taking losses in either realm in order to get a win in the other.”

Economics certainly taught him how to weigh those decisions to get the best outcome, and he will carry that real-life application of economics into his graduate program, wherever he goes. MB

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A JULY IN CAMBRIDGE Finding Connection in Cambridge

by Kenton Young

CONNECTION IS VITAL TO LIFE. It is the wellspring of inspiration—we must connect with God to receive inspiration, and we must connect with other people to inspire one another’s lives. This principle holds true with learning and certainly with economics.

Economics was one of my first loves, though I declared the major somewhat reluctantly after failing to get into my desired program at BYU. While I was disappointed, the move to economics never felt like a loss. However, without a strong quantitative or mathematical background, the jump to 300-level classes proved a steep learning curve for me. I felt ashamed as I retook many classes while my classmates progressed to internships and TA positions. I felt like I didn’t compare or belong and withdrew further inside myself.

Then, last January, I received an email from the Economics Department detailing a direct enrollment program at Girton College at Cambridge University. The program struck me as an opportunity to develop and get outside myself, but it wasn’t an easy decision. My wife and I had been married only a short time, and her own internship during the month of July meant she couldn’t go with me. Still, she encouraged me to go, feeling it would help me in my major. July came quickly once we had made our decision. My mission in the northeast of England three years previously made arriving there feel almost like coming home. Hearing posh Southern English accents was different, but the stony houses, double-decker buses, and old Anglican churches were welcome sights.

The direct enrollment program at Cambridge constituted three sections, each taught by a different professor. The professors represented the international nature of the university: Dr. Shaun Larcom and Dr. Mark Retter were Australian, while Dr. Carolina Alves was Brazilian. Dr. Larcom covered the contributions of notable winners of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, discussing “The Problem of Social Cost,” “The Market for Lemons,” “Institutions,” and other important papers. Dr. Alves discussed “heterodox” macroeconomics, focusing on Keynes’s contributions, while going in depth on Robert Solow, Franco Modigliani, and

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Photo courtesy of Kenton Young

“These students continue to help me stay afloat even now; they challenge me and keep me on track when I feel discouraged.”

the famous Joan Robinson. Dr. Retter focused on philosophy and economics; John Locke, Tocqueville, Karl Marx, and Joseph Schumpeter—all were fascinating studies.

The curriculum was enlightening, and the professors a joy to study under, but the experience at Girton involved more than just lectures. We took day trips to London and nearby villages, watched Shakespeare in the park, punted on the river, and even attended a music festival. It was all phenomenal. More enlivening, though, was the international body of students in attendance. Many were from China—Shenzhen in particular—but others came from Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, Canada, India, the Philippines, and Kazakhstan. These students inspired me with their passion. At the time, the protests

in Hong Kong were in full swing, and I was fascinated to hear the Hong Kong students’ experiences. I love these people dearly and hope our friendships last a lifetime.

The friendships that impacted me most are those I developed with my fellow BYU Economics students; they helped resuscitate my university career and revive me personally. Their contributions in lectures were of the highest caliber, and the deep connections I built with them helped me realize that they are humans too. These students continue to help me stay afloat even now; they challenge me and keep me on track when I feel discouraged. I now know that human connection is vital to making my university experience as deep and enriching as it should be. I’m so grateful for my July in Girton.

BYU ECONOMICS

IN THE NEWS

2020

4

We’ve moved! Come visit us in the new West View Building!

1

BYU ECONOMICS ALUMNI Congratulations to three BYU Economics Alumni! Trevor Woolley (‘18) and John Bonney (‘18) are award winners of the 2020 National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program.

Matthew Schaelling (‘18) was given an honorable mention.

4 NEW BUILDING The Economics Department moved to a new building in August! Economics now shares the new West View Building with the Statistics Department and the Maxwell Institute.

Come visit us in room 2146 and check it out!

5 DR. ELIASON 2 DR. STODDARD In May, BYU Magazine featured Dr. Olga Stoddard’s research on gender dynamics and what it takes for women to be heard in the workplace.

Their research provides insight that can allow women to speak up more and men to listen better, not just on an individual level, but at a societal level.

3 DR. DENNING Congratulations to Dr. Jeff Denning, who was recently invited to join the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) as a Faculty Research Fellow!

In February 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) used Dr. Eliason’s research on the effect of mergers and acquisitions in the health care industry to make a decision regarding a Special Order, which required five large technology firms to provide information about acquisitions that were previously unreportable under the HartScott-Rodino Act. The hopes of both Dr. Eliason’s research and the FTC’s decision was to further study how consolidation through numerous small acquisitions affect competitive market behavior.

6 DR. MCMURRAY We are excited that Dr. Joseph McMurray has been promoted to associate professor and has been granted continuing faculty status this year!

7 ECON MAJORS

9 DR. PRICE Dr. Joe Price contributed his computer algorithm to help create FamilySearch’s new “Saints by the Sea” campaign, which matches people in the “Saints by the Sea” database with those in FamilySearch.

This project allows members to learn more about pioneers who came to America in search of religious freedom.

Congratulations to our Econ majors Dallana Wijesundera, Kyle Dana, Zachary Child, and their ACME major teammate, Spencer Halverson! Competing 10 GEORGE RUBEN against thirty other teams GARCIA III over eight long days, they won the Bain & Company 2020 This year’s economics winner Case Competition, earning for the 16th Annual Mary Lou personal interview coaching Fulton Mentored Research and interviews with Bain & Conference was George Company in the fall.

Reuben Garcia III with his poster “BMI and Mortality: Should overweight be normal weight?” We’re proud of our 8 DR. WILSON students’ involvement and grateful the conference could Dr. Riley Wilson received the continue even in its modified UpJohn Institute Early Career form as campus closed winter Research Award. This award semester. will provide research funds for his project, “The Impact of State Borders on Mobility and Regional Labor Market Adjustments.”

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“ECONOMICS IS BEAUTIFUL, SOUL AND MIND STRETCHING, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, A REALLY GOOD TIME.” SEAN KEMSLEY, P. 10

DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS | 801-422-2859 | ECONOMICS@BYU.EDU